"Within two days after the inauguration, Bob Wilburn [Secretary of Budget and Administration], and his budget office aides came to the Governor's Home to discuss the state's financial condition. Estimates of the deficit looming at the end of the fiscal year (which was to end on June 30) ranged from $20 million to $175 million ... Wisely, nearly all states [including Pennsylvania] have a constitutional requirement that each year's budget be balanced ... I was later to become a zealot in the effort to secure passage of a balanced budget amendment to the federal constitution ... I have always thought that matching revenues with expenditures is a large part of what accountability in government is all about" (
Evidence, p. 109). Overall, through reprogramming and attention to top priorities, in addition to cost cutting measures, responsible and balanced budgets were submitted and passed in a timely manner each of the eight years of Thornburgh's years as Governor.

The Office of Budget and Administration (OBA) oversaw the creation of yearly budgets for every agency, department and commission and "maintains a continuing evaluation of the progress and effectiveness of state programs in meeting program objectives" (
Pennsylvania Manual, 1980-1981, p. 293). The files included in this collection are detailed and fully document both the organization and the results of a meticulous and successful budgetary process. They are the foundation beneath the many policy initiatives and accomplishments of the Thornburgh administration.

The first group of files is organized by department, agency or commission, and includes materials relating to the requests for funds, OBA's recommendations, and notes from hearings for each department. There are also documents relating to departments' accomplishments and goals, and the funding thought necessary to achieve those goals.

The OBA also kept material unique to each fiscal year. This second group of material includes, for example: Governor's Budget Address and drafts, binders entitled, "Summary of Initiatives, Policy Issues and Appropriations Prior to the Submission of the Executive Budget," and copies of the Governor's
Executive Budget and
Budget in Brief for each fiscal year. Included, too, is information from the Governor's Budget Review meetings, news releases regarding budget matters, and other documents unique to each fiscal year.

The Office of Budget and Administration files are arranged as follows: 1) Department and agency requests, related OBA recommendations and hearing notes, arranged alphabetically by agency or department, for fiscal years 1979-1987; 2) Fiscal year budget materials, arranged chronologically by fiscal year from 1979-1987, with materials relating to the executive budget, briefing binders, and budget address materials for each year.